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Arsenal Rumours: Wenger making move for M’Vila & Koscielny in French squad

According to The Guardian, Arsene Wenger has finally made a move in the transfer market by offering £22m to French club Rennes for the holding midfielder Yann M’Vila.

Wenger has apparently had a £15m bid rejected already for the 21-year-old and if this is true then it would shatter Arsenal’s transfer record for an incoming player. M’Vila is under contract until 2015 and has become an established French international and would be a welcomed addition to Arsenal’s squad.

It does, however, seem unlikely that Wenger will buy M’Vila as currently we have both Song and Frimpong as defensive midfielders, and also Wilshere that can provide defensive cover in the centre of the park. But don’t get me wrong, it would be helpful for the Gunners to acquire M’Vila as it could free up Song to play centreback if the injury crises continues.

I seriously doubt that Wenger will actually buy a new centreback as he will most likely place his faith in the likes of Djourou, Miquel and (heaven forbid) Squillaci as backups for Vermaelen and Koscielny. Instead he should seriously consider purchasing an established left-back to push Gibbs (when he’s not injured) for a starting spot as Sagna should be in his preferred right back position.

Meanwhile, uncapped Arsenal centre-back Laurent Koscielny has been named in the France squad for next month’s Euro 2012 qualifiers against Albania and Romania despite picking up an injury last weekend, after hurting his back early in Saturday’s 2-0 home defeat to Liverpool. Koscielny received his first call-up for February’s friendly against Brazil but played no part in the 1-0 victory at the Stade de France.

This is very promising news for Arsenal as it demonstrates that Koscielny is developing into a world-class centreback, and may the ease the fans pain for a new centreback. What do you think? Is Koscielny simply good enough to prevent Wenger from buying a new centreback? I personally would welcome someone like Cahill or Jagielka as it could allow Vermaelen to play leftback if required, and push the centrebacks harder for a place in the team and add some much needed expierence to the backline.